Giving students, teachers, and parents an edge in dance education
Long days call for long, lasting energy. The iron in lentils will give you a nutritional boost while their source of soluble fiber will help stabilize your blood sugar. Check out this recipe for Lentil Salad from Joanie Johnson of Motivated Nutrition.
While the image of a rubber band is useful in demonstrating the elastic nature of muscles in the stretch reflex, it’s not always as simple as the stretch/recoil and stretch-farther/less-recoil that we gain from thinking of muscles simply as rubber bands.
If you are stretching with the goal of long-term changes in your flexibility (for example, you can’t do the splits and would like to), save your stretching routine for after class or between barre and center when your muscles are “warm.” Generally speaking, both of the stretching techniques above have acute (short-lasting) effects on your range of motion before activity, but don’t really increase your overall flexibility.
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A simple series for building arm endurance and strength. Easy to remember, this is a little something you can keep in your “back pocket.” It’s also versatile – make additions, increase repetitions, or add hand weights when it becomes too easy.
Roslyn Bazzelle is a singer, songwriter, and practicing attorney. She is also a fitness instructor and creator of PIYOLET. PI – for Pilates. YO – for Yoga. LET as in Ballet. PIYOLET is a low impact fitness regimen for all ages, designed to diversify and keep the mind, body and soul refreshed and fit. Roz talks about PIYOLET, her DVD series, and gives away her product to three DA readers.
Many dancers utilize hot and cold therapy packs to relieve sore muscles and injury pain, not to mention dancers and teachers who suffer from chronic conditions. So, encouraged by my initial investigation, I approached Tiffany about a possible review of her product on Dance Advantage. She generously offered several products for review and, in addition, has agreed to give away some Relax Packs to readers.
Cross-training for strength and endurance is also a good idea for any dancer. In particular, dancers who aren’t training heavily, keeping the heart rate up or working up a sweat for 20-minutes or longer during class or rehearsal multiple times per week, may need to add cross-training activities to their schedule.
It is extremely important that someone working toward oversplits spend equal (if not more) time on strengthening and stabilizing the hips and core of the body. If you ignore signals that you are pushing too hard or too far, you may be hindering or halting any current progress you’ve made in your flexibility. You may even be sacrificing joint stability and overall joint health, perhaps ending your career early or causing problems later in life.
Dancers Responding to AIDS raises these important funds by producing events and conducting audience appeals in New York City and beyond. Special projects include the annual Fire Island Dance Festival, Dance From the Heart and Dance Student Outreach Project (formerly DRA Studio of the Year), which enables thousands of young dancers to actively involve themselves in helping those living with HIV/AIDS.
The iliopsoas is the only muscle (well, technically group of muscles) that attaches to the spine, pelvis, and femur (or, thigh). The three muscles which make up the iliopsoas are deep, running very near the spine and beneath other major muscle groups. Therefore, awareness of the iliopsoas must come through visualization.
“How will pregnancy affect my dancing and teaching?” What the internet, and books… lots and lots of books), others (like my doctor), and my experiences taught me.
